Monday 12/16/29 Medicinal Plant Session

Day 9 Costa Rica

Sign at the Greenhouse Entrance
Today we had the privilege of getting a medicinal plant tour with Armando and Celestino in the greenhouse. Juan, a Phd student from Costa Rica was a big help in translating from Spanish to English. Armando spoke to Celestino in Ngobe tribal language and then Celestino restated it to Juan in Spanish. It was amazing to see these three work together in order to be able to teach us about the medicinal plants and their uses.


Armando and Celestino
Armando and Celestino took us on quite the medicinal plant tour. It was amazing watching Armando as he walked through the greenhouse. I learned so much within a short amount of time. I had to record the entire session because there was no way I was going to be able to remember everything that was said. This experience was probably one of my favorites because Armando was so eager to share his knowledge. My favorite plant I learned about was for asthma. This plant was spiky on the stem and would be crushed and added to water then consumed. I can be used for emergencies or for treatment. I wish we had more time with Armando and all of the Indigenous Peoples. They had so much to share and were open and willing to teach us. Their presence is warm and welcoming. I am thankful for them being apart of this program.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saturday 12/14/19 Data and Tattoos!

Image
Day 7 Costa Rica Learning ImageJ Today Corbin taught me how to use the ImageJ software. It was a little difficult at first but after few hours of doing it, I got the hang of it. We have 45 images of leaves to process with the software. Basically we are getting the total surface area of the leaf as well as the healthy surface area. By doing so we can get a percent of diseased area of each leaf. This software is pretty awesome, but there are some nuances with it also. Some of the leaves were hard to do because the lighting as well as the software sometimes would pick up the background as part of the leaf. Overall, I am enjoying learning this method of determining how much of the leaf is diseased versus just guessing. This is more accurate. Lazaro preparing the tattoo material.  After lunch we all got temporary tattoos from Lazaro the leader/chief of the Embera tribe of Panama. He used a fruit from a specific palm tree. To get the fruit you have to climb the tree. Lazaro b...
Read more

Wednesday 12/18/19 Departure and Presentations

Image
Day 11 Costa Rica Hand carved frogs  Today our indigenous friends from Panama left; Lazaro, Armando and Lucia. It was sad to see them go. I learned so much from them during the short time we have been here. After breakfast, I received two gifts from Lazaro. First was the frogs above. I was surprised to be given this carving because it was one of the ones I looked at a few nights ago. The immense detail and time spent to create such an amazing piece of artwork its outstanding. I really liked this particular carving because it was the only one that was not painted which allowed for the many carve marks to be shown. In return, I gifted Lazaro a necklace made from Juniper berries. I also gave Lucia a bracelet made from porcupine quills. I hope one day I will be able to see all of those I met in Costa Rica again. They all made a big impact on the person I desire to be in the future. They showed me what true strength and resiliency is.  I now have a new found goal to be able...
Read more

Friday 12/20/19 Traveling Home

Image
Day 14 Costa Rica to US Back to the US I go  Today my flight left at 2:27 pm. I headed to the airport at 11:30 am along with a few others from the group. I really wanted to stay in Costa Rica longer. I feel like time flew by. Once at the airport, reality set in and I would soon be home in my own bed. While others were flying home to see family, I was returning to Idaho.... I wish I could fly to see my family but it would be too hard to get back to Idaho after. I am thankful that I at least have my husband and three cats waiting at home for me. This little book (passport) will serve me great purpose in the future. I plant to travel more and learn more about other cultures specifically other tribal cultures, sustainable practices, and diets. I am excited for the future and am thankful that I had this opportunity to travel outside of the United States. It has opened my eyes to how privileged I am to be a citizen of the US as well as how much work there is to do in other parts of...
Read more